High School by Tegan Quin and Sara Quin
First loves, first songs, and the drugs and reckless high school exploits that fueled them—meet music icons Tegan and Sara as you’ve never known them before in this intimate and raw account of their formative years.
High School is the revelatory and unique coming-of-age story of Sara and Tegan Quin, identical twins from Calgary, Alberta, growing up in the height of grunge and rave culture in the 90s, well before they became the celebrated musicians and global LGBTQ icons we know today. While grappling with their identity and sexuality, often alone, they also faced academic meltdown, their parents’ divorce, and the looming pressure of what might come after high school. Written in alternating chapters from both Tegan’s point of view and Sara’s, the book is a raw account of the drugs, alcohol, love, music, and friendships they explored in their formative years. A transcendent story of first loves and first songs, it captures the tangle of discordant and parallel memories of two sisters who grew up in distinct ways even as they lived just down the hall from one another. This is the origin story of Tegan and Sara.
For the Reading Challenge(s):
2026 Nonfiction Reader Challenge
The Reason
They’re from Calgary, Alberta, where I currently live, so I got interested to learn more about them.
The Quotes
“I had never considered what it would be like to be in love until I was in it.”
“I could think of nothing but her. I half listened in school, half studied for my tests, half completed my assignments, half lived when I wasn’t next to her.”
“I wasn’t a quitter, I just finally knew who I wanted to be.”
The Narrator(s)
The authors, Tegan Quin and Sara Quin. I did find it hard to tell their voices apart and often didn’t know whose chapter I was in without double checking, but I enjoyed their narration in general.
My Thoughts
I had never heard of Tegan and Sara until we moved to Calgary and while I’m still not very familiar with their music, I do enjoy a couple of their songs like Closer and Everything is Awesome. My curiosity stems mostly from the fact that they are from Calgary, and I loved that I recognized some of the places they talk about in this book.
Through my own fault, I was unprepared for all the high school drama contained within this book entitled High School. To be fair, there isn’t any more drama than what a normal high school teenager would’ve been going through, but perhaps I was more so unprepared for the stark honesty and raw emotions Tegan and Sara share in the book. I’m not sure that I would’ve been able to do the same talking about my own high school experience.
The thing that struck me most was how much it seemed that they didn’t get along at all as twin siblings, and yet were so on the same page when it came to making music together. I’m sure we don’t know the full story of their sibling experience and this book only shows us part of it, but it was quite interesting to see! Overall, I love their dedication to being open and honest about their high school experience and how they navigated being LGBTQ in a time when it wasn’t necessarily safe to be so. Some of those scenes made me well up from how emotional they were. I think this could be a great book for any teenager in high school.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
